Everyone's been reborn, so who would bother finding a wife on their own?

Chapter 114 The Most Beautiful Form of Youth

There were already a lot of people when we walked through the connecting corridor.

The first and second-year high school students poured in from all directions, forming a river that flowed towards the third-year high school building.

Some people are laughing, some are shouting, and some are running.

Some even dared to hold up their phones, the screens flashing in the crowd.

The area in front of the senior high school building was already packed with people.

People were everywhere – upstairs and downstairs, in the corridors, on the stairs, and by the flower beds.

The first and second-year high school students stood at the bottom, while the third-year students stood in the corridor, holding onto the railing and looking down.

Some people were wearing school uniforms, some were wearing their own clothes, some had messy hair, and some had red eyes.

They stood on the corridor between the fourth and fifth floors, like standing on the deck of a large ship, with a dense crowd below.

The loudspeaker came on.

There was a buzzing sound from the electrical circuit, and then a voice came from the speaker, trembling slightly, whether from nervousness or excitement, it was hard to tell.

"The next song is dedicated to the graduating high school seniors. Wishing you all success in the college entrance exam, a place on the honor roll, and a bright future!"

When the prelude started, cheers erupted from the crowd, from the first floor to the fifth floor, from the east to the west, and the whole building shook.

Some people were clapping, some were whistling, and some were shouting "Go, seniors!" They shouted it once, then again, and then everyone was shouting.

Good luck to all senior high school students! You will succeed in the college entrance exam!

The sounds overlapped, echoing under the night sky, hitting the wall of the opposite administration building, bouncing back, and then crashing back again.

"Today, I watch the snow fall in the cold night."

The sound from the loudspeaker wasn't the original downloaded recording; it was some student playing an MP3 file next to the loudspeaker. The sound was a bit shaky, and there was a crackling sound at the high notes, but nobody paid any attention.

The people below started singing along.

Those who can sing, sing; those who can't, sing too; if you can't remember the lyrics, just hum the tune.

The sounds were squeezed out from the throats of hundreds of people, mixed together, rough, raspy, unpleasant to hear, but very loud.

Xiao Yunqing stood next to Song Huan, looking up at the senior students upstairs.

They stood in the corridor, some holding onto the railing, some leaning against the wall, and some squatting on the ground.

Some people were laughing, some were crying, and some were raising their fists and singing along.

She began to sing, but her voice was soft and muffled by the crowd, making it difficult to hear clearly.

But she sang very seriously, pronouncing each word very clearly.

When she sings "How many times have I faced cold stares and ridicule?", she turns to look at Song Huan.

He sang along, his mouth opening and closing, singing with great seriousness.

She smiled, turned back, and continued singing.

When the song reached the line "I have never given up on my ideals," a senior high school student upstairs cried.

It wasn't the kind of quiet crying; it was the kind of uncontrollable crying that made a sound even when you covered your mouth.

The person next to her put their arm around her shoulder, patted her twice, and continued singing without saying a word.

Song Huan stood in the crowd, looking up at the senior students.

They stood in the corridor, the light shining from behind, casting patches of shadow on their faces, obscuring their expressions.

But their voices were clear, coming down from the fourth and fifth floors, deep and muffled, as if they had been holding it in for a long time and were finally being squeezed out of their chests.

Song Huan thought, "This time next year, they will be the ones standing upstairs."

The year after next, too.

Every year!

One group of people leaves, and another group arrives.

There are always people standing in the corridor, and there are always people singing with their heads tilted back.

Is this what youth is all about?

he does not know.

But he felt that being able to stand here was quite nice.

After the last line of "Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies" was sung, the sound from the loudspeaker stopped.

There was a moment or two of silence, then the cheers resumed, even louder than before.

Some people were shouting "One more song!", some were shouting "Good luck, seniors!", and some were calling out their friends' names, one after another.

The loudspeaker blared again.

The voice trembled even more violently than before, as if it were trying to hold back something.

"Next, the last song, wishing all the senior students success in the college entrance examination, and a bright future ahead."

As the intro began, someone on the playground raised a flashlight.

One, two, three, ten, one hundred.

The flashlight beams shone in the darkness, twinkling like stars on the ground.

Some people held flashlights, some held glow sticks, and some wealthy people held keypad phones. Some people held nothing at all and just stood there with their heads tilted back.

Xiao Yunqing took out an MP3 player from her pocket; it was silver-blue, and the screen lit up briefly.

She didn't play any music, she just held it up above her head. The small light wasn't very noticeable in the crowd, but she held it very high.

Song Huan looked at the small screen and smiled.

"The little yellow flower of the story has been drifting since the year it was born."

He started singing when he got to this line.

The voice wasn't loud; it was mixed in with the voices of hundreds of people and was hard to hear.

But he sang it.

Xiao Yunqing heard it.

She turned to look at him, but he didn't look at her; instead, he looked up at the senior high school students upstairs.

Song Huan opened and closed her mouth, singing very well, all in tune.

She turned back and held the MP3 player even higher.

Once upon a time, there was someone who loved you for a very long time.

When the song reached this line, a senior high school boy wearing glasses suddenly shouted from upstairs.

I couldn't make out what they were shouting, but it was very loud, coming down from the fifth floor and drowning out everyone else's voices.

There was a moment of silence, then laughter and applause erupted. Some people were whistling, and others were making a fuss.

Song Huan smiled too, a very happy smile.

As the last note of "Sunny Day" faded, a soft "thank you" came from the loudspeaker, followed by two static crackles and then silence.

There was silence for about three seconds.

Then applause surged from the crowd, not the polite, courteous kind, but the kind that welled up from the bottom of their hearts, the kind that you just had to applaud.

Some people clapped until their hands were red, but they kept clapping.

The administrative building in the distance lit up.

It wasn't the kind of gradual lighting up; it was a sudden "snap" as the lights in several offices turned on at the same time, the stark white light spilling out of the windows and illuminating the open space downstairs.

Someone shouted, "Director Wang is here!" The voice wasn't loud, but everyone on the quiet playground heard it.

The crowd began to move.

It wasn't the kind of frantic running, but the kind of slow dispersal where everyone thought, "It's about time to go."

Some people walked towards the teaching building, some towards the playground, and some stood still, unwilling to move.

Zhao Qihang squeezed through the crowd, a smile on his face and sweat on his forehead; it was hard to tell whether he had run or sung.

He patted Song Huan on the shoulder, "Let's go, let's go, Old Wang from the senior year is here."

Lu Ciyuan followed behind, his fingers still rubbing against his lips, but his face was full of excitement.

Chen Xu was the last one. His tall figure stood out in the crowd. He walked slowly and kept looking back at the senior high school building.

Xiao Yunqing put the MP3 player into her pocket and zipped it up.

She stood next to Song Huan, grabbed his clothes, and ran quickly.

The crowd flowed past them, heading towards the covered walkway, their footsteps clattering and their voices buzzing.

She looked up at the senior high school building.

The people in the corridor were still there; they hadn't left.

Some people were holding onto the railing and looking down, some were talking to the people next to them, and some were leaning against the wall, looking up at the sky.

There were stars in the sky, not many, just scattered, but one was very bright.

As she walked back to the first-year high school building, she stopped and looked back.

The lights in the senior high school building were still on, one room after another, from the first to the fifth floor.

The people in the corridor dispersed, leaving only a few senior high school students leaning against the railing, looking at something.

She turned back and continued walking.

Song Huan walked beside her, hands in her pockets.

He didn't turn around, but he knew those lights would stay on until very late, until the dead of night, until tomorrow, until the day the college entrance exam ended.

Then it goes out, and waits for the next group of people to arrive before it lights up again.